These estimates include only the insured damages, based on the claims that have been received.
According to official insurance news estimates regarding the cost of Superstorm Sandy to Bermuda insurers and reinsurers, the total so far is approximately $3 billion, but that amount may grow to be much larger.
Seventeen insurers in the country have now released their preliminary estimates for their storm losses.
At the moment, the total of these estimates for the losses related to Sandy have come to $2.987 billion in potential claims. The majority of this insurance news will be applied against the results for the fourth quarter for these insurers. However, as these are still considered to be only preliminary estimates, the final totals may be considerably higher.
Superstorm Sandy first made insurance news at the end of October when it left devastation wherever it touched.
The insurance news from the storm included the death of over 100 people, as well as massive flooding and wind damage across the eastern coastal united states. The subway system in New York City was flooded and beach towns were destroyed all along the stretch from Bridgeport, Connecticut through to Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Parts of these states are still suffering from the damage they experienced from the storm that topped the insurance news headlines for weeks. Business interruption losses are only continuing to climb and the figures in the U.S. will likely also climb after all of the claims have been submitted. At the moment, the predictions regarding the U.S. damage claims are in the range of $20 billion to $25 billion.
Bradley Kading made insurance news when this executive director of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) – which is an organization that represents 22 of the firms within the country’s marketplace – stated that he anticipates that the numbers in that country will likely reach much higher totals than are currently predicted by the insurers. He said that “The Bermuda share of Sandy claims will be significant – perhaps as much as $5 billion if losses total $20 billion to $25 billion.”
He added that this insurance news is another example of why the legislation that was created to force reinsurers from outside the United States to pay more tax – for instance, the Neal Bill – did not suit U.S. interests.